


Thank You, Mr. Accomplice

by SkylaDoragono



Series: Mr. Accomplice Trilogy [1]
Category: Persona 4
Genre: Emotional Manipulation, Gen, Manipulation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-10
Updated: 2014-12-10
Packaged: 2018-02-28 23:42:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2751542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkylaDoragono/pseuds/SkylaDoragono
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Part one of the Mr. Accomplice Trilogy; it was amazingly easy to act like everything was normal, even when the murderer you supported calls you out on it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thank You, Mr. Accomplice

JANUARY 19 – LATE NIGHT

_"I should compliment you on your acting, you know."_

It was amazing, how chains could come in different forms.  He may not have been bound down physically, but every time his phone went off, Yu Narukami could feel something tighten around him.  It may as well have been a real set of chains closing around him, suffocating him and holding him down, because he felt like he could not breathe or move unless it was to answer that phone call.  Of course, he did not bother to say hello when he flipped open the cell; even if his chains did not keep him from speaking, he knew the mocking voice on the other end of the line would just start talking no matter what he said.

_"Huuuunh?  Nothing to say?"_

He was silent, and he could picture the man on the other end of the line, sitting back in a desk chair, maybe even spinning around in boredom as he waited for his reply.

"…if I had reacted any other way, it might have tipped them off," he replied softly.

Mocking laughter was his response, and Yu felt his grip tighten on his phone as his gut churned.

 _"You're more sly than I thought,"_ that voice replied, sounding so innocent.  _"Maybe I should have opened up to you sooner.  This game would have been so much more fun that way…"_

He did not say anything, his grip tightening further, to the point where a distant part of his mind wondered if he could crush his phone in his hand.  There was a scream clawing at the back of his throat, much like it had when he sealed his fate, and he fought to keep it from bursting out of him.  Eventually, he managed to just let out a soft breath, though loud enough to be heard on the other end of the line.  He was met with a curious noise in response, and another long pause followed…

_"Hey.  You never told me."_

"Told you what?"

_"How it felt to be me."_

Yu fell quiet, his grip slowly loosening back to normal.  That moment, back in the TV… something had happened between their powers, and even a month later he was still trying to piece it all together in his head.  It had been odd, living through so many years of another man's life in that instant, but he had felt everything… it was too much like seeing what his own life would have been like if there had been no murders, if he was just able to spend a normal year in Inaba without having to worry about Shadows or fog or anything else.  He doubted he would have been as open as he was; he would have just been a distant memory in everyone's minds, as forgettable as dust.  It made him wonder if anyone the man grew up with did actually remember him, or if he was just, "That person in that row," with no other memories to tie to him.

_"Well?"_

"…lonely."

The voice on the other end let out a tired sounding sigh, though he did not necessarily object to that.  Silence hung between the two of them again, and Yu almost thought he hung up, when he heard the sound of movement on the other end of the line.

_"Is that why?"_

Yu hesitated, and he had a feeling he knew what he meant by asking that, but he was not about to give him that satisfaction; his little way of showing he was not happy with this arrangement?  Maybe.

"Why what?"

 _"Don't play dumb; it's not cute on you,"_ the voice replied, a snide edge creeping into his tone.  _"Why'd you do it?"_

Silence.

_"Well?"_

Silence.

He chuckled faintly.  _"Don't tell me; you were naïve and actually thought that you could save me?"_

"Didn't I?"

He was treated to an awkward noise from the other side of the line, and he felt his lip twitch up in a smirk he was not really feeling.  Part of him was glad to have finally made him uncomfortable for once, though it did not make Yu happy.  If anything, he worried that it was just another step in a direction he did not plan on taking.

Then again, who plans these things?

"You're not alone anymore," he continued when he still did not receive a reply.  He got one then; a low, curt laugh that cut through the speaker and into his ear.

 _"That's such stupid reasoning,"_ the voice hissed over the other side, sounding far less cheerful than before.  _"You almost make it sound like you expect something else to happen."_

Yu let out a soft breath, staring out at the television in front of him.  It was the same old small CRT set that he had been watching the Midnight Channel on all year, but he almost felt like he could see a face not his own staring back at him, silently judging him.

"…you mean I shouldn't?" he replied softly, staring at that imagined face as it seemed to fade back into the dark screen.  That silence answered him again, before his caller let out a faint laugh.  It was not the same carefree laugh as before; this time it sounded more like a weird sort of acceptance, like nothing was going to be changing now that Yu had made up his mind.

 _"I guess not…"_ he muttered faintly.  Yu thought he would be annoyed hearing him, more or less, admit that there was a possibility he would do worse than he already had, but… he was not.  He did not feel anything.

Maybe he was better off empty now, all things considered.

_"Well then, thank you for your company, Mr. Accomplice."_

"…you're welcome, Adachi-san."


End file.
